Vertically movable doll



June 2, 1959 J SAUER 2,888,776

' VERTICALLY MOVABLE DOLL Filed March 28, 1957 INVENTOR JA CK .SAUERATTORNEY United States Patent VERTICALLY MOVABLE DOLL Jack Sauer,Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada Application March 28, 1957, Serial No.649,042

4 Claims. (CI. 46-61) This invention relates to toys, and moreparticularly has reference to a doll having therein a Yo-Yo, that is, arotatable inertia member of disc-like, peripherally grooved form aboutwhich is wound a suspension string. In a Yo-Yo, the string ismanipulable in a manner to permit the member to be rotated for thepurpose of causing the same to travel downwardly and upwardly along thestring.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a generallyimproved doll of the character described that will be highly amusingwhen the Yo-Yo is operated. It is proposed, in this connection, that thedoll will be adapted to not only move upward and downwardly along thestring seemingly without means of effecting such movement but also, willbe designed to move its arms and legs while traveling along the stringor cord.

Another object is to so form the doll that concurrently with the arm andleg movements thereof, bells or other sound-producing elements, carriedat the extremities of the limbs, will sound for the purpose of adding tothe amusement derived from the toy.

Another object is to provide an improved means of constructing the Yo-Yodoll, wherein the Yo-Yo will be enclosed in a rectangular housing ofsheet metal or the like. It is proposed that the housing protectivelyenclose the Yo-Yo, and at the same time be capable of being attached tothe walls of the hollow body of the doll in a completely concealedposition.

Another object is to provide a toy doll as described in which the Yo-Yoassembly, including not only the rotatable inertia disc but also thehousing thereof, will be adapted for mounting in a dolls body that willbe of a flexible, resilient material if desired, so that the body willmove its head, legs, and arms during the operation of the device.

Still another object is to provide a device of the character stated thatwill be so formed that any of various novel means for supporting therotatable member within its associated housing can be used, with theassembly of the member and housing being capable of being eifected withmaximum facility.

Another object is to provide a toy of the character stated which willhave the Yo-Yo mounted therein in such a manner as to properly balancethe body of the doll, while at the same time weighting said bodyeffectively for efficient operation of the device.

Still another object is to assemble the housing and Yo- Yo in a mannerto facilitate the disassembly of these components whenever, for example,the cord needs to be replaced, or other repairs or maintenance effected.

Still another object is to provide the support for the Yo-Yo in such amanner that it will space the rotatable member from the several walls ofthe body of the doll, with the housing at the same time holding saidwalls of the dolls body in a prescribed, spaced relationship to oneanother.

Yet another object is to provide a toy of the character 'ice manufactureat a relatively low cost without sacrifice of durability or trouble-freeoperation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughoutand in which: 7

Figure 1 is a perspective veiw of a Yo-Yo doll according to the presentinvention in which a portion of the body has been broken away to showinner construction details; a Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional viewsubstantially on line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the same scale as Figure 2, takensubstantially on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is va transverse sectional view through the Yo-Yo housingshowing amodified construction; and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing another modification. v

Referring to the drawings in detail, designated generally by thereference numeral 10 is a doll according to the present invention,having a hollow body which can be rigidly constituted if desired, orwhich alternatively can be formed of a flexible material, such as aflexible plastic, soft rubber, etc. The body is preferably, as shown inFigure 1, formed of individual, molded parts including a torso portion12 which is formed open at its lower end, and which, at its upper end,is integrally molded with a head 14. Connected in communication with thelower end of the torso portion 12 is the lower portion 16 of thebody,opening upwardly and joined at 18 with the portion 12. Of course,any of various other types of joints can be employed, and to effect thepermanent connection of the components, adhesive or similar means canbeemployed. v

In any event, the lower portion 16 is permanently closed at its lowerend, having an end wall 20. The end wall 20 has transversely spaced,downwardly opening recesses receiving the closed upper ends of the legsof the doll. The legs of the doll are connected to the lower portion 16within the sockets provided therefor by means of pins 22, 'so that thelegs 24 have a certain freedom of movement, in that they can movelaterally as well as forwardly and rearwardly, and can also swivel uponthe connecting pins 22. The legs 24 would also be made in a preferredembodiment of a flexible material, so that durmg operation of the toythe feet on the lower ends of the legs will vibrate or shake, adding tothe amusement derived from the toy. 7

Arms 26 are received in sockets provided in the opposite sides of theupper portion 12 of the body, and are connected to the body by pins 28.The arms can thus swivel on the pins 28 and can also swing outwardly asWell as forwardly and rearwardly. On the outer extremities of'the armsand legs, sound: producing elements 30, such as bells, can be attached.When the free ends of the limbsof the doll shake or vibrate during useof the toy the bells or other tone producing elements will be caused tosound, thereby to further add to the amusement derived from the toy.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, within the upper portion 12, there isfixedly mounted a rectangular sheet metal housing 32, formed open at itstop and bottom, and having front and back walls formed with threadedopenings receiving connecting screws34, that pass through smooth walledopenings of the front and back walls of the body portion 12 of the doll.In this way, the housing is fixedly mounted within the upper portion 12,in a position wholly concealed from view, and at the same time, thehousing serves to maintain the front and back walls of the doll in apredetermined, spaced relationship.

Referring to Figure 3, an axle 36 extends transversely,

horizontally between the side walls of the housing 32,

and its opposite ends have axial, threaded recesses receiving screws 38'that pass through smooth-walled openings formed in the side walls of thehousing. In this way, the axle is'fixedly supported within the housing.

A rotatable inertia disc 40 has a deep peripheral groove 42, and it willbe understood that said groove can be of any desired depth. Consideredfrom another standpoint, the inertia disc includes transversely spaced,identical but oppositely formed disc elements integrally connected by ahub 43.

A transverse, centrally disposed bore 44 is formed in the disc, andfixedly engaged in the bore is a roller hearing 45 including series ofball elements 46 spaced axially of the axle 36. The free rotation of thedisc upon the axle is thus assured.

Looped about the hub 43 is a cord 48, which extends through the open topof the housing upwardly within the head 14, passing loosely through aguide opening 50 formed in the top of the head of the doll.

It will thus be seen that the user can grasp the upper end of the cord48, the general practice being to provide a loop on the upper end of thecord which receives ones finger. Then, by up and down jerking movementsof the hand to which the cord is attached, the cord will be caused towind and unwind on the inertia disc in alternating relation so that thedoll alternatively travels downwardly and then upwardly along the cord,responsive to rotation of the disc in opposite directions during thewinding and unwinding operations.

This provides a high degree of amusement to children, since the dollappears to travel up and down the cord without visible means oflocomotion. The Yo-Yo disc, of course, would be weighted, to increasethe effectiveness of the action, but the material of the dolls body ispreferably relatively light, and could, for example, be a comparativelythin and flexible rubber material as previously mentioned herein.

In any instance in which it is necessary to repair the Yo-Yo, one needonly detach the portion 16 from the portion 12 to expose the Yo-Yo frombelow. Then, the screws 34 are removed, and the Yo-Yo housing is pulleddownwardly through the open bottom of the body portion 12. The disc andaxle can now be removed from the housing, merely by removing screws 38from the axial recesses provided in the ends of the axle 36.

It will be seen that this facilitates assembly and disassembly of thedoll and further facilitates the maintenance and repair of the doll, sothat it can he kept in use over a long period of time.

In Figures 4 and there are shown modified means for assembling theinertia disc with the housing. In the form of the invention shown inFigure 4, the housing 32 is identical to that of the first form.However, the inertia disc 40a is rotatably supported through theprovision of identical but opposite axle members 36a, coaxially alignedand having threaded inner ends engaged in correspondingly threaded,laterally opening recesses provided in the disc. Integrally formed onthe outer ends of the sections 36a are reduced trunnions 38a, rotatablybearing in small openings formed in the side walls of the housing. Inall other respects, the construction is identical to that of Figures1-3.

In Figure 5, another modification is shown in which the housing 326 isidentical to that of Figures 1-4, except for the absence of bearingopenings in the side walls. Instead, support plates 52 are fixedlymounted against the inner surfaces of the side Walls, through theprovision of screws 54 extending through openings provided in the upperparts of the side walls and engaged in registering, threaded openings ofthe support plate.

The support plates 52 at their lower ends have bearing openingsreceiving trunnioris 38b provided upon the opposite ends of a one-piecebearing pin or axle 36b that is fixedly engaged in a through centeropening of the disc b. In this form, the disc is removed from thehousing by first removing the screws 54. This frees the plates 52,together with the axle and disc for removal from the housing.Thereafter, the plates will fall away from the ends of the axle,permitting the desired repair or replacement operations to be carriedout.

In all forms of the invention, there is the common, desirablecharacteristic wherein the toy can be manufactured at a very low cost,by mass production methods, thereby permitting the same to be sold at aprice sufficiently low to justify commercial production.

Further, the toy in every form of the invention is so designed as tocompletely conceal the Yo-Yo assembly, and again, this is a desirablefeature of the invention.

Still further, the body is properly balanced relative to the Yo-Yo, inview of the fact that the Yo-Yo is centrally, rotatably supported withina housing which is so designed as to center itself in respect to thebody, when it is secured to the body of the doll. This is an importantfeature of the invention, in view of the fact that this arrangement inturn automatically results in the cord 48 being properly aligned withthe opening formed in the upper end of the head 14.

A further feature of importance resides in the fact that the doll,having a flexible body in a preferred embodiment, will move its arms andlegs of its own accord, so to speak, while traveling upwardly anddownwardly upon the cord. This will in turn cause sounds to be producedby the tinkling of bells provided at the outer ends of the limbs of thedoll.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A Yo-Yo doll comprising a dolls flexible body at least a portion ofwhich is hollow; rotatable inertia means in the hollow portion of thebody including a rigidly constituted housing preventing collapse of saidbody, a peripherally grooved inertia disc in the housing, and meanscarried by the housing on which the disc is rotatably supported; and asuspension cord wound within said groove upon the disc and extendingupwardly from the inertia means, said housing being fixedly connected,at opposite walls thereof, to corresponding opposite walls of the dollsbody, said body of the doll including a head having a guide openingcentrally located with respect to said housing, said cord passingloosely through the guide opening, said dolls body including an upperportion in which said housing is mounted, said upper portion openingdownwardly, a lower portion opening upwardly' and connected to the upperportion, thus to expose the housing on separation of said upper andlower portion, and arms and legs connected to said upper and lowerportions respectively.

2. A Yo-Yo doll as in claim 1 wherein said means for rotatablysupporting the disc comprises an axle extending transversely of thehousing, screws carried by opposite walls of the housing and removablyengaged in the ends of the axle, and a ball bearing centrally engaged inthe disc and receiving the axle.

3. A Yo-Yo doll as in claim 1 wherein said means for rotatablysupporting the disc comprises a pair of coaxial axle sections havingthreaded inner ends engaged in opposite sides of the disc, said sectionshaving reduced trunnions at their outer ends, the housing having bearingopenings in which the trunnions are journaled in opposite Walls of thehousing.

4. A Yo-Yo doll as in claim 1 wherein said means for rotatablysupporting the disc comprises an axle fixedly engaged in the center partof the disc and projecting along opposite sides of the disc, said aXlebeing formed at opposite ends thereof with reduced trunnions, supportplates engaged against opposite walls of the housing, and screws carriedby said opposite walls of the housing and engaged with said supportplates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS WurstSept. 26, 1882 Gund July 13, 1915 Bell Dec. 9, 1930 Buttigieg Feb. 16,1937 Sladek Mar. 28, 1950 Perker Aug. 5, 1952 Seligson Oct. 28, 1952FOREIGN PATENTS Netherlands Dec. 15, 1934

